There are many different ways available in the market today in which research data is gathered and products are marketed to the general public. In order to be successful in selling products to a given population or target audience, the sales organization must thoroughly understand what the customer prefers and does not prefer. For example, research gathering information about how, where, when, and why a customer shops is very important in order for a selling organization to provide goods and services to that individual, institution and/or business. Information is also important in order to understand and reach the needs of the individual, institution and/or business making the purchase or paying for the services in such a way that the consumer will return to continue to do business with the selling entity. In short, information is one important key to making successful business decisions and driving sales.
Gathering research data and converting it into information for market place is why market research and marketing are a multi-billion industry. However, not all information is the same.
One way to gather information from the public for research and marketing reasons that has been used in the past is to provide payment for the time taken to fill out a quick questionnaire. This has been done usually on a mass scale basis and the payment form varies from discounts at particular stores, sweepstakes, redeemable prizes, which are not readably readily available to the consumer and usually cost something for the consumer to obtain, such as paying for shipping and handling, to actual currency sent in the mail. In the case of currency, many thousands of dollars are lost annually because the envelope was never opened and discarded as “junk mail”.
Several problems exist with these types of fact gathering campaigns. First, these fact-gathering campaigns usually contain the same set/type of questions for each recipient in a group. Therefore, most of the time if not all of the time, the questions posed to the consumer are too and/or do not provide useful information. Second, the questions and/or actions that need to be taken take too much time to complete and do not provide instant gratification to the survey taker. Thirdly, the mail is usually addressed improperly or generically such as to “current resident”, to “dear consumer.” This immediately gives the recipient the sense that the survey is not specifically directed to them and therefore is usually discarded as a useless promotion along with the money inside the envelope package.
In addition, the mail piece and reward for filling out the questionnaire are usually small and not traceable. The higher forms of rewards require the recipient to take some affirmative action, such as purchase something, turn on a phone, or the like, so that they can receive something free. Or in some cases require the recipient to call a toll-free number where the person that answers the phone is trained in trying to sell something to the caller rather than gathering the data from the survey. Another method of payment used is sending actual money in the mail, typically a dollar bill attached to a common questionnaire that is usually either too general and/or too long. These types of campaigns are not affective in gathering data since most of the time the recipient (if they open the mail) just takes the money and does not answer the questionnaire.
To compound the problem, usually the way that these mass surveys are conducted, the company running the survey does not follow up on the survey recipients that were sent the mail piece, but did not respond. In fact, most of the questionnaire campaigns are not set up for any type of follow up at all. The only way that a follow up would be conducted would be if the recipient of the mail actually contacted the sender to claim a prize. This type of survey only provides sheer numbers to the seller and not quality information.
For all of the aforementioned reasons, these types of campaigns are only marginally affective, if at all. Therefore, what is needed is a fact gathering campaign surrounded by a comprehensive program that is well defined and designed to gather data and/or introduce a concept to individuals with a compensation system that is both effective in getting the recipient to complete the information and allows the sending party to gather information quickly and affectively, track who has taken the reward but not responded, or who has not even taken the survey. It is this comprehensive data gathering and application system that is described herein and overcomes the aforementioned shortcomings of the prior art discussed above.